A Jodhpur Talwar

The ‘Talwar’ or ‘Talwar’ is a typical sword only found in India. The hilts are known for their disc shaped dome hilts, pronounced langets and quillons. The ‘Talwar’  is noticeable for its curved blade like the Persian ‘Shamsheer‘ and Turkish ‘Kilij’ and originates from around the 16th century. The Islamic hilt style was a popular feature until well in the 20th century. ‘Talwar’ swords of higher quality were carried both as weapon and status symbol. Hilts and scabbards could be decorated with ‘koftgari’ or damascening in gold or silver, made of wootz steel and gold damascened, or even set with precious gem stones. The blades could be locally forged, or imported from Persia with fine contrasting wootz blades.

The hilt:
Of typical ‘Karan Shahi’ form which was favored by the Rajput warrior caste. The hilt features flattened quillons and a disc shaped pommel. The gold overlay decoration is typical for the Northern regions of India and the sunbeam-pattern depicted on the disc pommel is an important feature for the Rajput who proclaim to descent from the sun. These hilts are commonly referred to as the Jodhpur type and shows a floral pattern accompanied by tendrils.

The blade:
In India referred to as the ‘Sirohi‘ type, named after the town Sirohi in Rajasthan were many of these blade types are found. The blade is rather slim, slightly curved and starts with a non-edged forte. The cutting edge runs down towards the tip and was treated in a high polished mirror finish, as fashioned in this regions. The blade is made of a high quality, perhaps Persian wootz steel with a high contrast and a very consistent pattern. The spine is flat, but ends in a sharpened tip. The blade has a hand cut fuller that runs nearly down the entire blade.

The scabbard:
Consisting of two wooden slabs covered in green velvet and decorated with an embroidered ribbon and silver chiseled tip. It suits perfectly to the sword and is original.